Depositing-machine for confectionery.



No. salmos. 'Patented not. y3o, |900.

- s. CARLSON.

DEPOSITING MACHINE FOR CDNFEGTIONERY.

(Applica-tion led July 1-2, 1900.)

4 Shams-Sheet l.

(No Model.)

Tn: Noms Pnsxs oo., rammen-1o.. msnmmon, n. c.

' No. esmas. Patented oct. 30,1900. G. CARLSUN.

.DEPOSITING MACHINE FORVGDNFECTIUNEBY. (Application Bled July 12, 1900.)(Ilo Model.) 4 Sheet--Shei 2.

illu' lmlw No. 66I,008. Patentud Dct. 30, |900.

G. CARLSON. A DEPOSITING MACHINE FOR CONFEGTIONERY.

(Application mea .my 12, 1900.)

4 Shania-Sheet 3.

JzvQ/MU?? `9 Mwug.;

G. CARLSUN.. DEPUSITING MACHINE FR CUNFECTIUNERY.

Patented Oct. 30, i900.

' (Application med July 12, 1900.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

No. semina.`

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES' PATENT Ormes.

GABRIEL CARLSON, yOF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO'THE-CONFECTIONERS MACHINERY AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF

SAME PLACE.

DEPOSITING-NIACHINE FOR CONFECTIONERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 661,008, dated October`30, 1900.

Application filed July 12,1900. Serial No. 23,350. iNo modelo l T allwhom, it Wto/,y concern:

Be it known that l', GABRIEL CARLSON, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements `inDepositing-Machines for Confectionery, of which the following is aspecification. A

This invention relates to depositing-may io chines for confectionerymixtures; and'one object of the invention is to construct a machine ofthis class in which provision is made for depositing the mixture in morethan one row of molds at the same time and in which I5 improved meansfor charging and discharging the cylinders from which the molds arefilled are provided.

A further object of the invention is to improve the mechanism wherebythe speed of` zo operation of the machine as a whole may be varied andalso in improvements in the mechanism whereby the quantity of materialwhich may be taken into one of the mold-charging cylinders may bevaried, all as fully set forth in the claims appended thereto.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure lisa sideelevation of the (iepositing-machine embodying my invention.` Fig.l 3 isa detailed view of one of the cylinders. Fig. 4 is a plan view ofseveral of the cylin-I 3o Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

rows, which trays are passed 'with a step-by;

step movement under rows of discharge-openings with which the rows ofmolds register, and the confectionery mixture is by suitable mechanismforced through said openings in predetermined quantities, said mixturebeing in a liquid or semiliquid state. Heretofore it has been thepractice to provide but one ou tlet from each ot' the mold-chargingcylinders.

in the followingspecifcation and summarized Fig. 7 is a perspectiveview,

The invention forming the subject of this application provides for thedischarge of the material into two or more molds at the same time.

In carrying out this invention, in a suitable frame ct there is mounteda chain or other flexible conveyer b on two shafts@ and d, hung inbearings in the opposite end of the frame. This chain is adapted tosupport and convey through the machine with a stepby-step 6o movementthe trays e, suitable guidesf being erected to keep said trays on theirtrue course. The referred-to step-by-stcp movement of the conveyer b isimparted thereto by a ratchet mechanism. (Shown more particularly inFigs. 1,2, and and which will be described later on.) The movement ofthis ratchet device, as well as the lmovements ot' the other parts ofthe machine, isimparted thereto by a shaft g, which in turn derives itsmotion 7o from the driving-shaft h. About midway between the two ends ofthe frame a tank t' is located, extending transversely of the'machine.In this tank is placed the confectionery mixture. Along the front ofthis tank, 'near the bottom edge thereof, a row of cylindersj aresupported in acylinder-bar 7c, which is secured removably to said tank.Said cylindersj are rotatably fitted into sockets bored in thecylinder-bar and secured therein by 8o means of a stem Z on thecylinder, which projects down through the bottom of the cylininder-barand is fitted with a suitable nut, whereby the cylinder is retained inits position. bored through the cylinder-bar, which connects with a longnarrow slot n, which extends across the face of the tank and isconnected withthe interior thereof. The bottom of each cylinder hasbored therethrough a 9o number of outlets 0. In the drawings four Aareshown, though this number is purely arbitrary, Through the sidewall ofthe cylinders, at the bottom thereof', there is bored an induction-portp of' substantially the same 95 arca as the hole m through thecylinder-bar It. Through the bottom of the socket in which the cylinderrests are bored other holes q of the same diameter and number as theholes o through the bottom of the cylinder. roo

Opposite each cylinder a hole m is These holes q and o are so arrangedrelatively one to the other that when the induction-port p registerswith the hole m then the holes q in the bottom of the cylinder-bar willbe found located ont of registering position with the holes o. Acrank-arm r is provided for each of the cylinders j. This crank-arm isadapted to be swung to rotate the cylinders within their socket-s, tothe end that when the arm `7 is in the position shown in Fig. 4, forinstance, the induction-porti? of the cylinders will register with theholes m, which are in constant communication with the deliveryslot n ofthe tank, and, as stated, when the cylinder is in this position theholes q and o will be found to be out of registering position, and thepiston s, through suitable mechanism to be described, will at about thispoint begin its upstroke. At the end of the upstroke of the piston thecylinder j is oscillated on its axis by means of the arm r to an extentsufficient to close the induction-port 1J and to bring into registeringposition the holes q and o. At this point the piston beginsits downwardmovement to eject the contents of the cylinder from the latter throughthe four ontlets o, which at this time lie directly over the holes q.Meanwhile the trays e have been fed along by the ratchet-motion to bringa mold-form (indicated in Figs. 3 and 6 by t) under each of t-he holesq. This piston at this point descends, ejecting the mixture contained inthe cylinder into the mold-form beheath, and the piston then begins itsreturn upward movement an instant before the cylinders are operated backto the position shown in Fig. 4, whereby any of the mixture remaining atthe mouth of .said opening will be drawn back into the cylinder beforethe rotation of the latter covers the holes q. By this means no drops ofthe sticky mixture are permitted to remain on the underside of thecylinder-bar 7c. The means whereby the oscillatory movement of thecylinders is imparted thereto are shown most plainly in Figs. 1 and 2.

On the shaft g is a gear u, which is connected, through an intermediategear c, with one of a series of gears so, having different diameters,which are rigidly secured on the shaft h, the latter being rotated by adrivingpulley y. Positive movements are thus im.- parted to the shaft g,and, by means to be described, through the medium of the gears a: thismovement of the shaft g may be varied. On one end of the shaftl(/,outside of the frame, is a disk e, and a horizontal lever l issupported close to the side of this disk z, on which lever is a cam 23,which is offset from the side of the lever toward said disk sufficientlyto permit the engagement with the edge thereof of a roller-stud 3. Oneend of this lever l is supported on a stud on the frame and slidesthereon. This stud has no other function than to support the cam 2 inproper position relative to the disk a'. The

opposite end of the lever l is pivotally connected with the lower end ofa vertically-operating lever 4, the upper end of which is connected by ashort adjustableI connection 5 with the lower arm 6 of a bell-cranklever 7, to whose upper arm 8 connected the bar 9, which extends alongthe front of the cylinder and is pivotally connected to each of the armsfr thereof. It is thus apparent that the rotation of the disk .e in thedirection shown by the arrow will not be effective to move the levenluntil the roller-stud 3 arrives at a point on the cam 2 where the4curved line of that cam begins to run eccentrically to the disk z. Themovement of the stud will be ineffectual to impart horizontal movementto the lever. After the engagement of the edge of the cam with the stud3 said cam will be forced in a horizontal direction far enough to permitthe said stud to pass under the point ofthe cam. This will bring thelower curved edge of the cam to a position about diagonally opposite theposition it occupies in Fig. l--that is, with the lower curved edge ofthe cam concentric withthe disk z. The cam thus provides a period ofdwell for each half-revolution of the disk z, and it is during one ofthese periods that mixture is drawn into the cylinder on the upstrokeand duringl the other of said periods is forced out of the cylinders.Each oscillatory movement of the cylinders closes the outlet and opensthe inlet of the cylinders, and vice versa.

Whatever may be the stroke of the piston there need never be anyvariation in the oscillatory throw ot' the cylinders. Therefore no meansof adjustment are provided in the mechanism above described; but as oncertain classes of goods it is possible to run the machine at a higherspeed than on others means are provided for varying the speed ofrotation of the shaft g, which will now be described.

` On the shaft h are three gears 0c, having different diameters. Anintermediate gear o is hung between the forked ends l0 of an arm ll,(see Figs. l and 2,) which arm is supported at one end on a stud l2 inan arm 13, which in turn is supported on the brace-rods 14, extendingfrom one side of the frame tothe other. The opposite ends of the armll-that is, the ends of the forks lO-are supported on the shaft g andembrace between them the large gear u.

Of the above mechanism only the group of gears so is immovably fixed,and these are, as stated, on the shaft h. The arm ll, whose forked endsembrace the gears u and v, is movable with said gears on the shaft g andon the brace-rod 14, `the gear u having a spline- "and-groove connectionwith the shaft g, and

the arm 13, to which the lower end of the arm l1 is connected, has asimilar sliding movement on the rod 14, the said arm 13 being providedwith a set-screw for locking it in its position. Obviously as theintermediate gear o must mesh with gears of varying diameters IIC v`onthe same shaft it is necessary to provide vertical movement for the arm11, and to this end the end of said arm which is secured to the arm 13is turned downward at an angle to the main dimension of the arm and hasa slot 15 cut therein, which is substantially concentric with the shaftg, the stud 12 passing through this slot. To change the speed of theshaft g, it is therefore only necessary to loosen the set-screw'whichbinds the arm 13 to the rod 14 and then to move the arm 11 until theintermediate gear c lies directly over the gear with which it is desiredto make it engage. The nut on the stud 12 is then loosened and the armdropped down until the gear c meshes with the desired one of the gears xon the shaft h. The nut on the stud- 12 is then tightened.

The means for imparting the requisite ver tical movement to thepiston-bar 16 are provided by two eccentrics 17 on the shaft g,

the arms of the eccentrics, as shown in Fig. 2, being extended upwardand pivotally connected with swinging yokes 18 on each side of themachine, secured by oneend on a rod 19, on which they may swing. Inthese yokes the lower extremities of the connecting-rod 2O are pivotallysupported, andthe upper extremities thereof are pivotally connected toopposite ends of the piston-bar 16, which has thereby a vertical slidingmovement on the face of the tank, supported in any convenient manner.The pivotal connection of the lower end of s-aid connecting-rod 2Oconsists of a block, which has a sliding motion in a slot 2l, which isconcentric with the point of attachment of thev connecting-rod 20 andsaid pistonbar. A long screw 22 passes through the rod 19 and throughsaid block on which the connecting-rod 20 is supported and with which ithas a screw engagement. A Yhand-wheel is applied to the end of one ofthe screws 22,and a small sprocket-wheel 23 is fixed on each of saidscrews also. A sprocket-chain 24 runs over both of said sprocket-wheels.By means of this construction hy rotating said handwheel on one of saidscrews both screws are simultaneously rotated, and the position of theblock in the slot 21, with which the connecting-rod 2O is engaged, maybe moved farther away from or nearer to the rod 19, on which the yoke 18oscillates, whereby the throw of the piston-har vertically may beregulated at will. The throw of the eccentrics 17 remains constant.

The pistons s may be connected with the piston-bar 16 in any suitablemanner, It has been thought best in this application to make a T-headslot 25 in the under side of the piston-bar 16 from one end thereof tothe other and to introduce therein from one end the piston-rod 26,provided with cylindrical heads adapted to enter said slot, thesepiston-rods being screwed into the pistons s in the usual manner.

From the preceding description of this maof the piston the latter willdraw into the cylinder a certain amount of confectionery material fromthe tank in proportion to the stroke of said piston and upon the descentof said piston (the cylinders meanwhile having been rotated to bring theproper outletports into registering position) the contents of thecylinders will be forced through the coinciding holes q and o anddeposit the same in four mold-forms z5 or into what-ever number ofmold-forms the machine may be adapted to. It will be observed by aglance at Figs. 3 and 4 that the deposit of material in said forms ismade in two molds lying side by side in two parallel rows extendingtransversely of the trays e. A ratchet-motion, .before referred to andshown in Figs. 1, 2, and 5, is operated from a crank arm 27. (Shown inFig. 5 and. in dotted lines in Fig. 1 on the shaft g and also shown inFig. 2 on the righthandgend of said shaft.) From the free end of thiscrank-arm 27 three connecting-rods 28, 29, and 30 extend, respectively,to three swinging levers 31, 32, and 33, all of which swing freely onthe shaft d outside of the frame a, as shown in Fig. 2. Each of theseswinging levers carries a pawl. The pawl 34 on the arm 33 is the onewhich determines the extent of movement of the tray between each step,except as follows, by means of its' engagement with the teeth of aratchet-wh`eel 35, which is fixed on the end of the shaft e.

The transverse rows of mold forms impressed in the starch in the trays eare equally spaced one relative to the other, and the first and lastrows are each the same distance from the ends of the trays; but wheretwo trays come together, as they do in following one another in closecontact through the machine, the space between thelast row of one tray*`and the rst row of another is greater than the space between said rows,and consequently it is necessary to provide for a given numher of stepsof a given length for each tray and then one step of a greater length tobring the first row or rows of the mold impression under the openings inthe bottom of the cylinder-bar, and it is to provide for this unequalfeed movement for the trays that the ratchet motion has been devised.This device, however, forms the su bject of a separate application andwill only be described herein in its relation to this particularmachine.

The intermittent motion of the ratchet referred to is provided for bymeans of the pawl 36 on theswinging lever 32, which is permitted to comeinto engagement with the ratchet-wheel 35 periodically at the saine timethat the pawl 34 comes into engagement behind it after having broughtthe last row of mold-forms under thevcylinders of the inachine. 'lhereis attached to the axis of the pawl 36 a finger 37, the endrof whichbears on the periphery of a cam 38, to which is secured a ratchet-wheel39, having as many chine it is obvious thatuponeach upstroke teeth asthere are: steps to he made by the ICO tray to till all of themold-forms therein. The said cam and the ratchet are loose on the shaftd, and the ratchet is engaged by a pawl 40 on the upper end of theswinging lever 31, said cam being of such a form that at the completionot' each revolution of said ratchetwl1eel39 the linger 37 will drop offfrom a shoulder on said cam, and thus permit the pawl 3G to come intoengagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel 35. Now it will beobserved that the same crank 27 imparts to the levers 32 and 33 theirswinging motions, but that said levers are provided with long slots 4land that the Vconnecting-rods 29 and 30, extending from said crank tosaid arm, are attached to the latter at different distances from theshaft CZ. Consequently the lever 32 being swung from a point nearer theshaft d than the lever 33 will carry its pawl farther than will thelatter. Thus by means of the cam referred to the pawl 3G when it isallowed to drop onto the ratchetwheel at the beginning oi the stroke ofthe pawl 34 after the last row in a tray has been filled will by reasonof its longer stroke carry the ratchet-wheel 35 a certain distance afterthe pawl 34 has reached the limit of its movemeut. It is thus apparentthat by varying the number of teeth of the ratchet-wheel 39 to agreewith the number of steps that a tray must make to fill its rows ofmold-forms and by varying the point of attachment of the connections 29and 30 with the levers 32 and 33 the machine may be adapted to operaieon trays having molds printed very closely together and having more orless variation in the distance between the last row of molds in one trayand the lirst row in the next succeeding tray. This ratchet-feed is avery important feature of this construction, for a continuous feed forthe trays is thereby made possible, whereas heretofore the trays havebeen placed separately on the conveyer-chain and its first row of moldforms brought into proper position under the discharge-openings of thecylinders.

In Figs. G and 7 of the drawings there is shown a modification ot' theconstruction heretofore described whereby the deposit of confectionerymaterial may be made in more than one mold at a time and which it isthought comes within the scope of the invention. The essentialdifference between this modified construction and that previouslydescribed consists in providing the cylinder-bar with two rows ofcylinders adapted to deliver material into the molds of two contiguousrows of molds simultaneously, each cylinder, however, having but oneopening, instead of delivering the material into said two rows-.Fromcylinders having a plurality of openings, as heretofore described.

In carrying out this invention the cylinderbar 7c, instead of beingsupported on the lower front edge of the tank, is supported on anintermediate piece 42, secured to the under side of the tank near itsfront edge and provided with the delivery-slot n, which in this case isnearly vertical. The said cylinder-bar Zt, properly secured to the loweredge of this piece 42, projects rearwardly far enough to permit thelocation in the rear edge thereof of a series of horizontal cylinders43, the cylinders j, as in Fig. 3, being supported in a perpendicularposition. The said cylinders 43 and j are in communication with the slotot through the passages 44 and 45 in the cylinder-bar, and each cylinderis provided with a suitable inlet-port 46 and discharge-port 47. Properdischarge-ports in the bottom of the cylinder-bars are provided whichregister with the ports 47 at the proper time. The cylinders y' and 43also are adapted to have an oscillatory motion on their axes at thesaine time, and their pistons s and 48 also have simultaneous inward andoutward strokes. These simultaneous movements of the cylinders j and t3are provided for, as shown in Fig. 7, by extending an arm 49 from theaxis of the lever 4 and connecting said arm by a rod 5() with one end ofan elbow-lever 51, the opposite end ot which is connected to a bar 52,with which arms on the cylinders 43 similar to the arms r on thecylinderj are pivotally connected. The cam 2 thus operates both sets ofcylinders. The pistons of these cylinders are also operated from thesame -source by taking a connecting-rod 53 from the pivotal support ot'the rod 2O in the yoke 1S and extending it upward to one arm 54 of anelbow-lever suitably supported in the machine, the opposite arm of whichengages with the piston-bar 55, which has a horizontal sliding motion insuitable supports 5G on the frame of the machine. It .will be of courseunderstood that. the connecting-rod 53 and the arm 54 are located one oneach side of the machine, as is the case with the connectingrod 20.

Having thus described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The combination with the supply-tank of a confectionery-depositingmachine, of a cylinder and its piston, supported in proximity thereto,an inlet-port in said cylinder in communication with said tank, one ormore outlet-ports in the cylinder, and means for rotating said cylinder,whereby said inlet and outlet ports may be alternately opened and closedin operative relation to the movements of said piston, and means formoving the latter, substantially as described.

2. The combination with the supply-tank ot' a confectionery-machine, ofa cylinder and its piston, supported in proximity thereto, an inlet-portand a plurality of outlet-ports in said cylinder, means for alternatelyopening and closing said inlet and outlet ports in operative relation tothe movements of the piston, whereby, upon one stroke of the latter, thecylinder may be filled with material from IIO the tank, and upon theopposite stroke discharge said material through said outlet-ports,substantially as described.

3. A depositing-machine for confectionery mixtures comprising asupply-tank, a series of trays, molds formed in suitable materialtherein, ratchet mechanism for moving said trays through the machinewith a uniform step-by-step movement, and means for changing the lengthof one of said ratchet steps at predetermined intervals, substantiallyas `described.

4. A depositing-machine for confectionery mixtures comprising asupply-tank, a series of trays, molds formed in rows in suitablematerial therein, mechanism for moving a series of said trays end to endthrough the machine automatically, with a continuously forward movementand means for depositing confectionery material in one or more of saidrows simultaneously, substantially as described.

5.' A depositing-machine for confectionery mixtures comprising asupply-tank, a series of trays, molds formed in rows in suitablematerial therein, mechanism for moving a series of said trays end to endthrough the machine automatically, a series of cylinders supported inproximity to said tank, pistons in said cylinders, a port in each of thelatter communicati-ng with said tank, a plurality of dischargeoutletsfrom said cylinders, and means for alternately opening and closing saidinlet and discharge outlets by the oscillation of said cylinders,substantially as described.

6. In a depositing-machine for confectionery mixtures, a supply-tank, aseries of cylinders supported in proximity to the latter, au inlet-portand a plurality of dischargeports in said cylinders, a piston-bar,pistons supported therein and entering said cylinders, and means forreciprocally and adjustably operating said bar in line with the axis ofsaid cylinders, consisting of a swinging yoke,

connecting-rodsbetween said yoke and said bar, an eccentric foroperating said yoke, and means on the latter for shifting the point ofconnection of said connecting-rods therewith, substantially asdescribed.

7'. In a confectionery-depositingv machine, the combination with asupply-tank, of a cylinder-bar supported thereon, a cylinder in saidbar, a piston, an inlet and one or more outlets in said cylinder, andmeans for.` oscillating the latter, whereby when said inlet is therebyclosed said outlet will beopened and vice versa, together with means foroperating said piston, substantially as described.

8. In a confectionery-depositing machine, the combination with asupply-tank, of a piston-bar supported thereon consisting of a solidpiecev having a series of cylinder-receiving sockets formedtherein,cylinders fitted in said sockets for axial rotation therein, aninletport in said cylinders communicating with said tank, one or moreoutlet-ports extending through the lower part of said'cylinder andthrough said bar, and means for rotating said cylinders atthe propertime to open and close said outlet and inlet ports alternately,substantially as described.

9. In a machine of the class described, a tray having molds formed insuitable material therein in uniform rows, a supply-tank, amold-charging cylinder in communication with said tank and adapted todischarge confectionery mixture into said molds in two or more rowssimultaneously, and means for moving said trays through the machine withan intermittent movement consisting of a series of uniform steps,periodically interrupted by a stepor steps of different length,substantially as described.

GABRIEL CARLSON.

Viitnesses:`

WM. H. CHAPIN, K. I. CLEMoNs.

